Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1812 - 4.3.3.3 Source Quench

Top: Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
Up: Requests For Comments
Up: RFC 1812
Up: 4. INTERNET LAYER - PROTOCOLS
Up: 4.3 INTERNET CONTROL MESSAGE PROTOCOL - ICMP
Up: 4.3.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES
Prev: 4.3.3.2 Redirect
Next: 4.3.3.4 Time Exceeded

### 4.3.3.3 Source Quench

A router SHOULD NOT originate ICMP Source Quench messages. As specified in Section [4.3.2], a router that does originate Source Quench messages MUST be able to limit the rate at which they are generated.

DISCUSSION

  Research seems to suggest that Source Quench consumes network bandwidth but is an ineffective (and unfair) antidote to congestion. See, for example, [INTERNET:9] and [INTERNET:10]. Section [5.3.6] discusses the current thinking on how routers ought to deal with overload and network congestion.

A router MAY ignore any ICMP Source Quench messages it receives.

DISCUSSION

  A router itself may receive a Source Quench as the result of originating a packet sent to another router or host. Such datagrams might be, e.g., an EGP update sent to another router, or a telnet stream sent to a host. A mechanism has been proposed ([INTERNET:11], [INTERNET:12]) to make the IP layer respond directly to Source Quench by controlling the rate at which packets are sent, however, this proposal is currently experimental and not currently recommended.

Next: 4.3.3.4 Time Exceeded

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1812 - 4.3.3.3 Source Quench